Corinthians, ex-Brazil striker Adriano part ways

SAO PAULO — Corinthians announced Monday that Adriano's contract with the club has been terminated three months before it was due to expire.

The defending Brazilian champion said both parties agreed to the move, allowing the player to find another team.

The announcement on Monday came three days after coach Tite had criticized Adriano for his lack of dedication in practice.

The former Brazil striker had been released from the squad for the match against Guarani in the Sao Paulo state championship on Saturday and versus Mexico's Cruz Azul in the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday.

Adriano has played only a few matches this season because of fitness struggles while recovering from Achilles tendon surgery last year.

He played only eight matches in 11 months with the popular Brazilian club, scoring two goals.

A few weeks ago, Corinthians ordered Adriano to stay at the team's headquarters on a strict diet to try to regain his best form. The team had said it was likely Adriano's last chance to try to show he was serious about getting back to the squad.

Adriano improved and played three matches as a starter after that, including one in which he scored the game-winner, but this week coach Tite said he was not satisfied with the way the striker practiced and removed him from the squad for the matches against Guarani and Cruz Azul. Corinthians drew Guarani 1-1 at home.

"He is out of the team because he didn't practice the way we wanted him to practice," Tite said. "He lacked intensity, quality and dedication. He didn't reach the level we wanted him to reach physically and technicaly."

There had been reports in local media that the coach and Adriano had an altercation over the player's weight, something coach Tite publicly denied.

Adriano's weight had been a topic since he arrived last year.

He underwent surgery on his Achilles tendon last April, just a few weeks after he was signed by Corinthians from AS Roma. He only returned to action at the end of 2011, visibly out of shape, but came off the bench to score a crucial winner for Corinthians in the final rounds of the Brazilian league, helping the team get in position to eventually win the title.

The former Inter Milan striker played for Brazil in the 2006 World Cup but missed the tournament in South Africa despite leading Flamengo to the national title the previous year.

Adriano also made many headlines for off-the-field problems in recent years, including his involvement in a minor car accident, a public altercation with a girlfriend and a police investigation for alleged ties with drug lords in the shantytowns where he grew up — although he was never charged.

More recently, a woman riding in Adriano's car accused the player of shooting her in the hand, but she later retracted and said the weapon went off accidentally when she was holding it.

Adriano quit Inter Milan in 2009, saying he was not happy in Italy and wanted to be closer to his friends. He missed several practices with Flamengo in 2010, prompting a team director to publicly say that the player had a drinking problem.

Corinthians said the player's representatives and the club's legal department would discuss the details of the contract termination. Adriano had been signed until the end of the Copa Libertadores in June.

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